in this edition of the Blogging Week in Review. The tip of my nose itched.
And why all the movement? I'm sitting on a blue exercise ball, which I often use as a seat while working at the computer. I tend to roll around on it while I talk. (Someday, I may come crashing down on me bum. But so far, that hasn't happened.)
The lighting is a bit better this week. My son is puzzled as to why YouTube seems to make the videos he uploads darker than they appear on his computer.
Finally, we're still not sure why stuff gets cut off at the end. So, let me tell you what I said when taped, "God bless!"
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
What If the Iraqis Were Asked to Vote on a Continued US Presence in Their Country?
What would they say? Those intriguing thoughts are raised by this post. The guy who wrote it has a particular axe to grind. I don't; I'm not advocating anything in the way of policy here.But, given that Iraq has held several successful elections, it isn't entirely implausible to believe that they could hold a successful nationwide poll or referendum on a continuing US presence there.
If the Iraqis voted that we should stay, what impact would that have on US public opinion or US policy?
And what if they wanted us to go?
I obviously don't know how the Iraqi people feel or how we might respond to a vote on this matter. But as we weigh future US policy in Iraq, it would be interesting to know what the Iraqis think.
Amazing Ministry
Here is the story of a pastor from our county who's an Army chaplain in Iraq. Amazing!
Whatever your thoughts on abortion...
and I would call myself pro-life, Amba's reflections on her own experience of abortion are worth reading.
For another perspective, see here.
For another perspective, see here.
How God Guides
That's the topic of this series from the extraordinary Mark Roberts. Read each installment.
"Harriet is believeable as a Christian because she's flawed."
That's Jan of TheViewfromHer writing about Harriet Hayes, TV's sympathetically-drawn Christian character. Read the whole thing.
As the bumper sticker says, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven."
As the bumper sticker says, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven."
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Third Pass at This Weekend's Bible Lesson: Luke 4:21-30
[The first pass, along with an explanation of what this is about, is here. The second pass is here.]
Verse-by-Verse Comments (continued):
25But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; 26yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.
(1) Here, Jesus explains why the people of Nazareth aren't seeing the signs for which the hometown hero was so celebrated in Capernaum and in other parts of Galilee. He says that it's in line with the history of God's people to reject God's Messiah, just as in Old Testament days, God's people rejected God's prophets.
More than that, Jesus points out that God only makes Himself known to those with faith in Him, that includes those who may be deemed to be outsiders. To Jesus' fellow Jews, Jesus was saying that even Gentiles--those who were not ethnically Jewish--could have a relationship with God and discern the signs of Jesus. This offended their sense of historic entitlement and the notion that they had exclusive claim on God and on righteousness.
This latter notion is one that God had tried to erase from His people's mindset. Among the points of the Old Testament books of Jonah and Ruth, for example, is that God cares about all people and that all who believe in the God we meet in Jesus Christ can be saved.
The incidents from the lives of two Old Testament prophets cited by Jesus here make the same point. This offends the citizens of Nazareth who want a hometown hero, a Messiah, and a God who will do their bidding and count them righteous while damning everybody else, faith in God or not.
(2) The first incident cited by Jesus is that of Elijah and the widow at Zarephath in Sidon. Sidon was considered a particularly evil place by Jesus' fellow Jews and not without good reason. But it was in Sidon that God found a woman with faith in God, willing to give the last thing she had to one of God's prophets. "There were lots of widows in Israel," Jesus is saying. "But it was in a foreign widow that faith enough to depend on God for everything was found." You can find the narrative of Elijah and the widow at Zarephath in First Kings, chapters 17 and 18.
(3) For the Nazareth worshipers, it was probably as infuriating to have Jesus use God's Word--the Bible--against them as it was for Jesus to say that foreigners had access to the grace of God.
27There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
(1) This second incident cited by Jesus, one of my favorite Bible stories, is found in Second Kings 5:1-14. Naaman, a commander of a foreign army, suffers from leprosy. (Actually, in Biblical times, the term for leprosy was used for more than Hansen's Disease, the disease we refer today when we speak of lepropsy. So, it's not precisely certain what skin affliction Naaman had.)
In the story, this foreigner wrestled with doubts about whether to do what Elisha told him to do--dunk himself in the Jordan seven times. After all, there were mightier rivers than the Jordan, which in most places is little more than a creek. But Naaman trusted. Here's another instance of a foreigner trusting in the Word of God, mediated through a prophet.
28When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.
(1) The implications of Jesus' statements are clear. The people of Nazareth and the Jewish people generally, didn't have exclusive claims on Him or God. A relationship with God and the blessings of such a relationship come to those with faith in God, irrespective of ethnicity. And those in the lineage of Abraham, the Jewish people, couldn't claim to have such a relationship, Jesus was saying.
As with Abraham himself, a relationship with God is solely a matter of faith in God, not about our ethnic heritage or our good works:
But nowhere do we see this theme more clearly in Luke and Acts than in Jesus second most famous parable, that of the prodigal son. The original hearers of this story would have cast the younger son as a Gentile and the older son as a fellow Jew. When the younger son returns to the father--representing God, the older son refuses to enter the celebration, in spite of the father begging him to do so.
The kingdom is open to all. All we need to do is believe in God's Son. This offends those for whom religion is more a matter of heritage or form or ritual. But it's new life for all who believe in Jesus Christ!
29They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.
(1) Jesus' words hit the psyches and religious sensibilities of the people of Nazareth with the force of an IED. Their anger is volcanic.
(2) What the intention of the Nazareth synagogue crowd might have been is seen differently by different interpreters. Some cite Old Testament passages to buttress their notion that the Nazarenes were out to kill Jesus. Others cite still other passages to support the idea that they were casting Jesus out (excommunicating Him) from the religious life of the Jews. I guess that it isn't important to know what they wanted to do--it may be difficult to discern a single intention when dealing with a riled mob anyway. What is clear is their rage at Jesus.
30But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
(1) Commentators differ on this as well. Some say that Jesus miraculously disappeared. Others say that such an interpretation of the passage isn't necessary and I'm inclined to agree. Of more importance is the fact that Jesus left them, in control of His own destiny, intent on fulfilling the mission He enunciated in last weekend's lesson. He would decide when He died for the sins of the world.
But in this simple incident at Nazareth, we see foreshadowed the response of all the world--Jewish and Gentile--to the revelation of the Messiah. We see too, the call to faith in Him that Christ issues to all people.
Verse-by-Verse Comments (continued):
25But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; 26yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.
(1) Here, Jesus explains why the people of Nazareth aren't seeing the signs for which the hometown hero was so celebrated in Capernaum and in other parts of Galilee. He says that it's in line with the history of God's people to reject God's Messiah, just as in Old Testament days, God's people rejected God's prophets.
More than that, Jesus points out that God only makes Himself known to those with faith in Him, that includes those who may be deemed to be outsiders. To Jesus' fellow Jews, Jesus was saying that even Gentiles--those who were not ethnically Jewish--could have a relationship with God and discern the signs of Jesus. This offended their sense of historic entitlement and the notion that they had exclusive claim on God and on righteousness.
This latter notion is one that God had tried to erase from His people's mindset. Among the points of the Old Testament books of Jonah and Ruth, for example, is that God cares about all people and that all who believe in the God we meet in Jesus Christ can be saved.
The incidents from the lives of two Old Testament prophets cited by Jesus here make the same point. This offends the citizens of Nazareth who want a hometown hero, a Messiah, and a God who will do their bidding and count them righteous while damning everybody else, faith in God or not.
(2) The first incident cited by Jesus is that of Elijah and the widow at Zarephath in Sidon. Sidon was considered a particularly evil place by Jesus' fellow Jews and not without good reason. But it was in Sidon that God found a woman with faith in God, willing to give the last thing she had to one of God's prophets. "There were lots of widows in Israel," Jesus is saying. "But it was in a foreign widow that faith enough to depend on God for everything was found." You can find the narrative of Elijah and the widow at Zarephath in First Kings, chapters 17 and 18.
(3) For the Nazareth worshipers, it was probably as infuriating to have Jesus use God's Word--the Bible--against them as it was for Jesus to say that foreigners had access to the grace of God.
27There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
(1) This second incident cited by Jesus, one of my favorite Bible stories, is found in Second Kings 5:1-14. Naaman, a commander of a foreign army, suffers from leprosy. (Actually, in Biblical times, the term for leprosy was used for more than Hansen's Disease, the disease we refer today when we speak of lepropsy. So, it's not precisely certain what skin affliction Naaman had.)
In the story, this foreigner wrestled with doubts about whether to do what Elisha told him to do--dunk himself in the Jordan seven times. After all, there were mightier rivers than the Jordan, which in most places is little more than a creek. But Naaman trusted. Here's another instance of a foreigner trusting in the Word of God, mediated through a prophet.
28When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.
(1) The implications of Jesus' statements are clear. The people of Nazareth and the Jewish people generally, didn't have exclusive claims on Him or God. A relationship with God and the blessings of such a relationship come to those with faith in God, irrespective of ethnicity. And those in the lineage of Abraham, the Jewish people, couldn't claim to have such a relationship, Jesus was saying.
As with Abraham himself, a relationship with God is solely a matter of faith in God, not about our ethnic heritage or our good works:
And he [Abraham] believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)(2) This is a theme which, in the incidents he recounts, the evangelist Luke will hammer home constantly in his two New Testament books, Luke and Acts. Luke, for example, Luke quotes John the Baptizer:
"...Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham." (Luke 3:8)After Jesus' death and resurrection, Luke says that in the early years of the Church, the apostle Peter was called by God to go to the home of Cornelius, a Roman, a Gentile. There, Peter called Cornelius, his family and his friends, to turn from sin (repent) and believe in Jesus Christ. In earlier years, it would have been scandalous and unthinkable for Peter to even enter the home of a Gentile, let alone welcome him and other Gentiles into the family of God. But here, he says:
...“I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all." (Acts 10:34-36)The most famous of Jesus' parables, told only in Luke, gets at this theme as well. The parable of the Good Samaritan, condemns the religion of the Jewish priest and levite, intent on fulfilling religious duties while ignoring the call to love God and love neighbor, while the foreign Samaritan subjects himself to danger to bring healing to the man dying on the road.
But nowhere do we see this theme more clearly in Luke and Acts than in Jesus second most famous parable, that of the prodigal son. The original hearers of this story would have cast the younger son as a Gentile and the older son as a fellow Jew. When the younger son returns to the father--representing God, the older son refuses to enter the celebration, in spite of the father begging him to do so.
The kingdom is open to all. All we need to do is believe in God's Son. This offends those for whom religion is more a matter of heritage or form or ritual. But it's new life for all who believe in Jesus Christ!
29They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.
(1) Jesus' words hit the psyches and religious sensibilities of the people of Nazareth with the force of an IED. Their anger is volcanic.
(2) What the intention of the Nazareth synagogue crowd might have been is seen differently by different interpreters. Some cite Old Testament passages to buttress their notion that the Nazarenes were out to kill Jesus. Others cite still other passages to support the idea that they were casting Jesus out (excommunicating Him) from the religious life of the Jews. I guess that it isn't important to know what they wanted to do--it may be difficult to discern a single intention when dealing with a riled mob anyway. What is clear is their rage at Jesus.
30But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
(1) Commentators differ on this as well. Some say that Jesus miraculously disappeared. Others say that such an interpretation of the passage isn't necessary and I'm inclined to agree. Of more importance is the fact that Jesus left them, in control of His own destiny, intent on fulfilling the mission He enunciated in last weekend's lesson. He would decide when He died for the sins of the world.
But in this simple incident at Nazareth, we see foreshadowed the response of all the world--Jewish and Gentile--to the revelation of the Messiah. We see too, the call to faith in Him that Christ issues to all people.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Second Pass at This Weekend's Bible Lesson: Luke 4:21-30
[An explanation of what this is about can be found in the first pass, here.]
Verse-by-Verse Comments
21Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”
(1) The initial reaction to Jesus' statement is favorable from the Nazareth townspeople.
(2) The question, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” at this point, is not asked disparagingly. It's rather a point of pride, a "hometown hero" comment.
(3) amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth: Literally, they were amazed at the grace of His words. Grace, of course, is God's undeserved favor. Unfortunately, people of religious faith often think that God's favor is deserved and only by them. Jesus, as we'll see, perceives these very attitudes in the people of Nazareth.
23He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” 24And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.
(1) Jesus refuses to "leave well enough alone," obviously because the positive, if exclusionary, reaction of the synagogue crowd is far from "well enough." Here, as in other places throughout Luke's gospel, Jesus goes out of His way to pick a fight with people who think that God is their own private kewpie doll who only cares for their kind, that is the Jewish people.
(2) In Luke's telling of Jesus' ministry, by chapter 4, Jesus has already done a lot of ministry, including teaching and miraculous signs. Remember that in last weekend's lesson, we were told that before His return to Nazareth, Jesus was being celebrated throughout the region of Galilee, where both Nazareth and Capernaum were located.
So, Jesus is saying, "You probably want me to do all the great things I did in Capernaum." But that isn't going to happen in Nazareth, Jesus is saying. The hometown folks want Jesus to prove Himself. But signs never come to those demanding proof from God; they're only seen by those with faith in God. In his account of Jesus' visit to Nazareth, Mark underscores this theme with this observation:
[Tomorrow, I hope to do the final pass at this lesson.]
Verse-by-Verse Comments
21Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”
(1) The initial reaction to Jesus' statement is favorable from the Nazareth townspeople.
(2) The question, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” at this point, is not asked disparagingly. It's rather a point of pride, a "hometown hero" comment.
(3) amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth: Literally, they were amazed at the grace of His words. Grace, of course, is God's undeserved favor. Unfortunately, people of religious faith often think that God's favor is deserved and only by them. Jesus, as we'll see, perceives these very attitudes in the people of Nazareth.
23He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” 24And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.
(1) Jesus refuses to "leave well enough alone," obviously because the positive, if exclusionary, reaction of the synagogue crowd is far from "well enough." Here, as in other places throughout Luke's gospel, Jesus goes out of His way to pick a fight with people who think that God is their own private kewpie doll who only cares for their kind, that is the Jewish people.
(2) In Luke's telling of Jesus' ministry, by chapter 4, Jesus has already done a lot of ministry, including teaching and miraculous signs. Remember that in last weekend's lesson, we were told that before His return to Nazareth, Jesus was being celebrated throughout the region of Galilee, where both Nazareth and Capernaum were located.
So, Jesus is saying, "You probably want me to do all the great things I did in Capernaum." But that isn't going to happen in Nazareth, Jesus is saying. The hometown folks want Jesus to prove Himself. But signs never come to those demanding proof from God; they're only seen by those with faith in God. In his account of Jesus' visit to Nazareth, Mark underscores this theme with this observation:
And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. (Mark 6:5-6a)(3) Nazareth found it difficult to accept Jesus as the Messiah because He was from their community. The signs didn't convince them, any more than they would the rest of His homeland, except for a handful of people. John talks about this reaction in the prologue to his gospel:
He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:11-13)(4) “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown." Jesus introduces the next element of His confrontation with the people at Nazareth. "This is the way it has always been," He asserts. "God sends prophets with His Word and the hometown folks are the first to spurn them."
[Tomorrow, I hope to do the final pass at this lesson.]
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
"Four whole seconds into the State of the Union and I am reduced to tears of joy by President George W. Bush."
So writes Erin Kovecki Vest over at Huffington Post. She goes on:
Read the whole thing.
I've followed the politics, the history, the races, the implications...but it really didn't hit me until Bush just said it:What a great moment for our country, irrespective of your party!
Madame Speaker.
With my daughter by my side, tears began to flow and all of the nonsense of this past election and of the one around the corner took a backseat.
Madame Speaker.
This moment just transcended beyond catchphrases like "feminist" and "glass ceiling."
Madame Speaker.
Read the whole thing.
Monday, January 22, 2007
This Looks Like a Great Movie!
Amazing Grace is a big-time motion picture that tells the story of William Wilberforce, the British pol whose faith in Christ led him to combat slavery in his country.
Thirty years before America's bloody Civil War, triggered by those who violently sought to dissolve the United States rather than accept the end of slavery, the sale of human beings was ended peacefully in the British Empire. Wilberforce was the main human instrument of that event.
His efforts were endorsed by a one-time slave ship captain-turned-preacher named John Newton. Newton was the composer of the most well-known hymn in the English language, Amazing Grace. The song literally expresses amazement at the grace of God, extended to humanity through Jesus Christ. Through that grace, those once blind to both sin and God's goodness see their need of forgiveness and God's willingness to grant it to us. God's grace belongs to those who turn from sin and entrust their lives to Christ. They're made right with God through Jesus' cross and they're guaranteed life forever with God because in His resurrection, Jesus destroys death and grants life to all who follow Him.
The story of William Wilberforce demonstrates how Jesus Christ empowers believers certain of eternity to stand up to the demons of this world and extend God's blessings to others. Christianity is more than an otherworldly religion. It's a vital relationship with a living God Who gives us the power to love God and love neighbor in the most practical of ways!
The movie about Wilberforce (and Newton) features an all-star cast. I'm looking forward to seeing it!
Here are study guides for the film.
Here is Wikipedia's profile of Wilberforce.
Here is Wikipedia's profile of John Newton.
Here is information on slavery as it exists in the world today and on what you and I can do about it.
Thirty years before America's bloody Civil War, triggered by those who violently sought to dissolve the United States rather than accept the end of slavery, the sale of human beings was ended peacefully in the British Empire. Wilberforce was the main human instrument of that event.
His efforts were endorsed by a one-time slave ship captain-turned-preacher named John Newton. Newton was the composer of the most well-known hymn in the English language, Amazing Grace. The song literally expresses amazement at the grace of God, extended to humanity through Jesus Christ. Through that grace, those once blind to both sin and God's goodness see their need of forgiveness and God's willingness to grant it to us. God's grace belongs to those who turn from sin and entrust their lives to Christ. They're made right with God through Jesus' cross and they're guaranteed life forever with God because in His resurrection, Jesus destroys death and grants life to all who follow Him.
The story of William Wilberforce demonstrates how Jesus Christ empowers believers certain of eternity to stand up to the demons of this world and extend God's blessings to others. Christianity is more than an otherworldly religion. It's a vital relationship with a living God Who gives us the power to love God and love neighbor in the most practical of ways!
The movie about Wilberforce (and Newton) features an all-star cast. I'm looking forward to seeing it!
Here are study guides for the film.
Here is Wikipedia's profile of Wilberforce.
Here is Wikipedia's profile of John Newton.
Here is information on slavery as it exists in the world today and on what you and I can do about it.
First Pass at This Weekend's Bible Lesson: Luke 4:21-30
[Most weeks, I present as many updates on my reflections and study of the Biblical texts on which our weekend worship celebrations will be built as I can. The purpose is to help the people of the congregation I serve as pastor, Friendship Lutheran Church of Amelia, Ohio, get ready for worship. Hopefully, it's helpful to others as well, since our Bible lesson is usually one from the weekly lectionary, variations of which are used in most of the churches of the world.]
Luke 4:21-30
21Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” 24And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. 25But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; 26yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. 30But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
General Comments
1. Because the incident narrated by Luke in this weekend's lesson continues the incident from last weekend, you may want to read the three passes and the message from last week. You'll find them here, here, here, and here.
2. In this weekend's lesson, the plot thickens. It begins with Jesus' announcement that today, the Old Testament prophecy about the mission and activities of the Messiah were being fulfilled in Jesus. The words today and now are important in Luke's Gospel. Its use signals the immediacy of God's Kingdom, that in Christ the reign of grace has invaded the world.
3. Luke's use of those words--today and now--has what the theologians call an eschatological meaning, not referring to the particular days on which the words were said, but to the end times which Jesus' ministry ushered in. Eschatology, to use a dictionary definition, is the branch of theology that deals with such "last..or final...matters...as death, the Judgment, the future state, etc." The word eschatology is a transliteration of a Greek compound, literally meaning word about the end.
"Today, now, in Me," Jesus was saying, "the ancient prophecies about God closing the book on sin and ushering in righteousness through faith in the Anointed One have been fulfilled. All these signs You've heard about me doing point to the fulfillment of God's intentions for His creation."
4. It's interesting that this incident, according to Luke, occurs near the beginning of Jesus' ministry. In last weekend's lesson, we saw that Jesus used the words of Isaiah to demonstrate that He was the promised Messiah and to describe His activities in that role. The progression of reactions exhibited by His fellow townspeople anticipates the reaction that will await Him as He takes His ministry beyond Nazareth. At first, the Nazarenes "speak well of Him" and marvel at the gracious words coming from His mouth. They even take joy from His being the hometown boy. But soon, they turn on Jesus, intent on killing Him.
The same progression will be seen at the end of Jesus' earthly ministry: On Palm Sunday, He will be welcomed by the crowds in Jerusalem. But in a matter of days, these crowds will cry for His blood.
5. Why the villagers in Nazareth--and the Jerusalem crowds--turn against Jesus will be explored in our verse-by-verse comments.
More tomorrow, I hope.
[UPDATE: One of the books I'm reading right now is a collection of essays on eschatology. In the opening essay, written by theologian Wolfhard Pannenberg, there's this:
Luke 4:21-30
21Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” 24And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. 25But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; 26yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. 30But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
General Comments
1. Because the incident narrated by Luke in this weekend's lesson continues the incident from last weekend, you may want to read the three passes and the message from last week. You'll find them here, here, here, and here.
2. In this weekend's lesson, the plot thickens. It begins with Jesus' announcement that today, the Old Testament prophecy about the mission and activities of the Messiah were being fulfilled in Jesus. The words today and now are important in Luke's Gospel. Its use signals the immediacy of God's Kingdom, that in Christ the reign of grace has invaded the world.
3. Luke's use of those words--today and now--has what the theologians call an eschatological meaning, not referring to the particular days on which the words were said, but to the end times which Jesus' ministry ushered in. Eschatology, to use a dictionary definition, is the branch of theology that deals with such "last..or final...matters...as death, the Judgment, the future state, etc." The word eschatology is a transliteration of a Greek compound, literally meaning word about the end.
"Today, now, in Me," Jesus was saying, "the ancient prophecies about God closing the book on sin and ushering in righteousness through faith in the Anointed One have been fulfilled. All these signs You've heard about me doing point to the fulfillment of God's intentions for His creation."
4. It's interesting that this incident, according to Luke, occurs near the beginning of Jesus' ministry. In last weekend's lesson, we saw that Jesus used the words of Isaiah to demonstrate that He was the promised Messiah and to describe His activities in that role. The progression of reactions exhibited by His fellow townspeople anticipates the reaction that will await Him as He takes His ministry beyond Nazareth. At first, the Nazarenes "speak well of Him" and marvel at the gracious words coming from His mouth. They even take joy from His being the hometown boy. But soon, they turn on Jesus, intent on killing Him.
The same progression will be seen at the end of Jesus' earthly ministry: On Palm Sunday, He will be welcomed by the crowds in Jerusalem. But in a matter of days, these crowds will cry for His blood.
5. Why the villagers in Nazareth--and the Jerusalem crowds--turn against Jesus will be explored in our verse-by-verse comments.
More tomorrow, I hope.
[UPDATE: One of the books I'm reading right now is a collection of essays on eschatology. In the opening essay, written by theologian Wolfhard Pannenberg, there's this:
...these are the traditional themes of Christian eschatology: resurrection of the dead, the kingdom of God, final judgment, and the second coming of Jesus Christ...I thought that might be a good summation of what's meant by eschatology. A constant theme of Luke is that in Jesus Christ and in His people is that Kingdom of God is here and now, an invasion of this time- and sin-bound world by the eternal and sinless Son of God. This is seen in all four of the Gospels in one form or another, but is an obsession with Luke, along with prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit.]
Sunday, January 21, 2007
The Blogger "At Work"
My son, Phil, took this pic of me back in October, 2005. He just shared it with me.
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